Media heat inspires Plouffe to improve

Message received. Eventually.Shortstop Trevor Plouffe was back in the Minnesota Twins starting lineup on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels for the first time since Monday, May 23. That was the day a pair of Plouffe eighth inning defensive gaffes assisted the Seattle Mariners in their come-from-behind 8-7 victory at Target Field.In the meantime, Gardenhire sensed his multiple talks about playing aggressive on defense werent resonating. So, he went to Plan B: reporters.My preference is one on one, but sometimes that doesnt get through, manager Ron Gardenhire said. So you guys fire it at him enough eventually hes going to come to me and say whats going on? Then I can really fire it back at him. Like, theyre saying the same thing Im saying.In the days following Plouffes miscues a grounder up the middle that looked like a routine play but was beaten out by Jack Wilson, and an Ichiro Suzuki line drive up the middle Plouffe played off the hop instead of catching in the air Gardenhire didnt like the body language he saw from the laid back Californian.Shagging fly balls alone in left field during batting practice on multiple days particularly irked the Twins skipper.Gardenhire made it a point to hold face-to-face meetings with Plouffe, but in the meantime let reporters know he wanted to see a more take-charge attitude from his shortstop on the field. Naturally, reporters took the information to Plouffe, who was finally fed up with the queries.To me it was just like, I kept getting asked the same question about a game that happened three days ago, Plouffe said. You play every day, thats the great thing about baseball. I was over that game, I think we all were. And to have to answer questions about it for three days straight obviously it didnt sit well with me. I didnt like that.So an angry Plouffe finally took his complaints to Gardenhire, who couldnt help but smile when relaying the story.Hes kind of a laid back kid, but he showed me a little something because he kept saying you guys kept coming up to him asking questions and it kind of got him mad about why is he having to answer, Gardenhire said. He was a little fired up, and I liked that that you guys irritated him enough to come talk to me about his play.I knew thats not the kind of player I was, Plouffe said. Im not a guy who is lackadaisical or anything like that. So we went out (Saturday) and worked on being aggressive and Im happy the whole thing is behind me.Plouffe assured Gardenhire his head is in the right place and that hes ready to play when called upon which was Gardenhires main concern. After all, even out of the starting lineup on any given day, Plouffe still could be needed as a pinch hitter or an injury replacement.The manager may not be completely confident in Plouffes mental state after watching Plouffes pair of throwing blunders in Sundays third inning, but hell continue to hammer home the same message of preparedness.With Tsuyoshi Nishioka still at least 10 days away from his return from the disabled list and Alexi Casilla already having proved he cant mentally handle the role of the teams everyday starting shortstop, Plouffes consistency is crucial for the Twins already slim hopes of getting back into the American League Central Division race. And if Gardenhire has trouble convincing Plouffe how important his presence is, he knows where he can find us.